Zoom has launched its Intelligent Director for Zoom Rooms to enhance the hybrid working experience.
The solution uses AI and multiple cameras to create the best image and angle of all participants in a meeting room so remote participants can see everyone clearly.
The solution intends to address the issue of participants being more likely to be hidden by others in bigger spaces when the meeting is only using a single camera. Intelligent Director’s multi-camera configuration and use of AI technology intend to provide “meeting equity to everyone in the room”, as Zoom’s announcement describes it.
Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom, said:
As more people return to the office, it’s no longer enough to deliver the best remote worker experience; every business needs a solution to deliver the best hybrid meeting experience. Even with some employees in the office, oftentimes other team members are dispersed, so meeting equity and inclusion become more important than ever. Intelligent Director is the solution that can bring employees together, regardless of location, so they can truly connect face-to-face.”
Intelligent Director is designed for medium- to larger-sized rooms and can individually frame up to 16 participants in a Zoom Room using various cameras.
The Director selects the best view for each participant, even if they turn their heads or physically move around. Remote participants can now have face-to-face conversations with each meeting participant.
“You want to make sure everyone feels like they have a voice in a meeting,” wrote Nathan Shaw, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Zoom, in an accompanying blog post. “With Intelligent Director’s AI technology pulling from multiple in-room cameras to identify the best view of each individual, you help everyone feel heard, involved, and included.”
Intelligent Director can utilize the best video stream via a Zoom-designed AI and direct that stream to a Zoom meeting’s gallery view.
The offering is an expansion of Zoom’s Smart Gallery feature, which uses one camera and AI to give each person in smaller meeting rooms their own space in a Zoom meeting. Intelligent Director leverages the same technology for larger conference rooms.
“By promoting a more equitable meeting experience for both remote and in-person attendees, Intelligent Director enables cohesive collaboration and clear communication across teams and workflows,” Shaw added.
Zoom’s AI-Centric 2023
Intelligent Director is one AI-powered solution among many launched by Zoom in 2023.
This month, Zoom IQ’s generative AI-powered features became available for customers on select plans on a free trial basis. Those users could access the Zoom Meeting summary and Zoom Team Chat compose offerings designed to boost productivity and improve collaboration. Zoom’s OpenAI-powered features were initially shown at this year’s Enterprise Connect.
Meeting summaries mean meeting hosts can create a summary powered by Zoom’s large language models and share it via Zoom Team Chat and email without recording the conversation manually. Hosts receive automated summaries and can send them to attendees and those who couldn’t attend.
The Zoom Team Chat compose feature enables users to draft messages that extract a chat thread’s context. The feature can change message tone and length and redraft responses to personalise text recommendations.
In May, Zoom also invested in Anthropic to build its AI capabilities. The collaboration with AI safety and research business Anthropic expanded Zoom’s federated approach to AI by integrating Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude, with Zoom’s collaborative platform. Zoom Contact Centre would be the first Zoom solution integrated with Claude.
Zoom’s Increasingly Impressive Product Portfolio
Outside AI, Zoom has still been busy making significant announcements.
Last week, the vendor launched a new calendar alignment solution, Zoom Scheduler, to reduce friction for planning meetings and streamline collaboration.
Zoom Scheduler aims to minimise the “toggle tax” of moving between various applications, including a user’s email, calendar, and video communications service. Zoom Scheduler is appointment scheduling and management within Zoom’s platform. Users produce availability slots for meeting attendees, and then the attendees can select a preferred time that works for everyone’s calendars.
Last week, the vendor also partnered with Sony to bring its video communications and collaboration platform to BRAVIA TVs.
The solution, available as a Zoom for TV app through Google TV, intends to help users quickly connect with colleagues for video meetings in remote or hybrid working environments.
Zoom on BRAVIA TV leverages the feature set of Zoom’s platform — including screen sharing, collaboration tools and video communications through the TV — with BRAVIA Camera’s advanced features.
Earlier this month, Zoom introduced new data storage tools to give users greater control and insights into their privacy. Among the various features Zoom is launching are European Economic Area (EEA)-based localised data storage, data subject access areas, and audit log tracking.
